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| The Subject: | Lychee Congou |
| Company: | The English Tea Store |
About the rating designation.
| Water temperature: | 212° F |
| Steeping time: | 3-5 mins. |
| Tea type: | Black |
| Dry leaves: | Broken pieces, black color, sweetly perfumy aroma |
| 1st Infusion: | Used 2 cups water |
| Aroma, plain — | Sweetly perfumy |
| Taste, plain — | Mild, not bitter, sweetely perfumy |
| Color, plain — | Light reddish-brown |
| 2nd Infusion: | Used only 1 cup water |
| Aroma, plain — | Sweetly perfumy |
| Taste, plain — | Lighter flavor |
| Color, plain — | Slightly lighter reddish-brown |
Comments:
Hubby and I are rather hesitant to even rate this tea. If we had read about lychees first, we probably would have held off on trying it. This type of perfumy tea is not our bailiwick. So, if you like Earl Grey and other such perfumed teas and can’t get enough of those shops that sell scented candles and soaps, this tea is a great one for you to try. Hubby and I, however, are taking a pass. The perfumy yet sweet aroma and flavor of the lychee was overwhelming and filled every head cavity. The good thing, though, was how mild the tea itself was, with no bitterness or astringency. It is Keemun Panda, which we reviewed awhile back and found to be excellent.
Lychees are fruits, but unlike most fruits typically eaten in the U.S., they are more fragrant than sweet tasting. They have an inedible outer rind that you peel off to get to the white fruity part. There’s a big seed in the middle, too, sort of like a mini-avocado but white and sweet and floral. Adding this flavor to a wonderful black tea seems not to be worthwhile. The tea seems so good by itself that nothing else is needed, especially lychee.
The sample package and the vendor’s website do not have any steeping instructions for this tea, so we went for the basic black tea steeping temp and time. If you choose to steep the tea longer, you could end up with some bitterness.
The leaf pieces are typical for a China black tea, both before and after steeping:
Overall, it’s probably a great tea for those who can stand perfumy fragrances and is mild enough to drink without any sweeteners (nor is milk recommended), but for hubby and me it was not one of our better tea adventures. In fact, it aggravated hubby’s allergies from the first whiff of the tea leaves in the bag.
Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, the rating of the tea and any opinions concerning it are always strictly objective.
The first lychee black tea I tried was from Foojoy, in a tea bag, and like many of their tea bags, I was impressed. But I also liked the idea of pairing lychee fruit with black tea, and I think the combination can be great iced.
ReplyDeleteI can see, however, how you would not like the strong perfumy quality. I also can see a lychee black tea going in different directions and I'd imagine I would not like every one.